Please, Famous White People, Stop Telling Us You Don’t Bathe
Someone give these people some soap and water.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty
White celebrities should really stop announcing how little they bathe themselves or their children.
For whatever reason, some famous people think that not bathing or not washing their hands is OK. What’s even more confounding is that they’re proudly sharing their unhygienic views with the public.
The latest culprit is Jake Gyllenhaal. In an interview with Vanity Fair published Thursday, the actor said, “More and more I find bathing to be less necessary, at times. I do believe... that good manners and bad breath get you nowhere. So I do that. But I do also think that there’s a whole world of not bathing that is also really helpful for skin maintenance, and we naturally clean ourselves.” Ironically, he said all of this while advertising his new fragrance line.
But Gyllenhaal isn’t the only A-lister to reveal they belong to the world of the unbathed.
The uproar started when celebrity couple Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher told hosts on the Armchair Expert podcast in July that they only wash daily what they consider their necessities. For Kunis, that’s her face, and for Kutcher, he washes the crevices and “nothing else ever.”
Then, when they added their children to the conversation, Kutcher said, “If you can see the dirt on them, clean them. Otherwise, there’s no point.”
That’s not all.
Actor Kristen Bell came to the couple’s defense Tuesday while appearing on The View. Speaking about her own method of parenting, she told the show’s hosts, "I'm a big fan of waiting for the stink. Once you catch a whiff, that's biology's way of letting you know you need to clean it up.”
No, that’s probably biology’s way of saying the person has passed the point of no return.
To be fair, there’s no exact guideline on how often a person should bathe. However, if they stink, they probably should’ve already done so. The Cleveland Clinic, a slightly more reputable source for health advice, says once a day is generally recommended, not just to prevent odor but to also prevent pores from getting clogged, excess dry and flaky skin, or prevent spreading germs. Remember, dirt carries everywhere.
No matter how much money some celebrities have, bath time doesn’t seem to be a top priority.